


Agents

by Luna_Myth



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, F/M, percabeth, secret agents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-03
Updated: 2015-04-03
Packaged: 2018-03-21 00:32:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,930
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3670830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Luna_Myth/pseuds/Luna_Myth
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Secret Agents Au. Annabeth and Percy haven’t seen each other in months. Well, that’s not entirely true. But fortunately, someone has a plan. Prompted by Nojohi. “Percabeth Secret Agents au.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Agents

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this over of the course of four months on and off and it turned out way longer than I intended. No beta-reading or massive editing. All mistakes are mine and all that. Hope you enjoy it.

If an agent who is secret is called a secret agent, what do you call an agent who is overt? Annabeth mused as she slouched in her car. Not an overt agent, she assumed. Maybe a high-profile agent.

Annabeth, still slumped beneath the window of her car, shifted sideways to look outside. All she could see was the wall of a high-rise apartment and the balconies of the higher floors, but she’d parked in this spot for a reason, just as she had for the past year. And that reason was supposed to appear in exactly fifty seconds. 

Agent Annabeth Chase kept up the count of the seconds in her head, but she knew even without a watch exactly when her reason for being here was going to appear. She had been doing this a few times a week for months and by now her internal clock knew exactly when a shadow was going to pass in front of the door to the balcony of the eighth floor. 

She knew exactly when the curtains would be pushed back and the door unlocked. She knew exactly when a tall black haired man would push open the doors and step out onto the balcony wearing a blue bath robe. 

The man on the balcony set down his glass of orange juice on his patio table and stretched as Annabeth watched him unseen from her car.

Every morning this man, ex-agent Perseus Jackson, did stretches on his balcony before going back inside, presumably to exercise, and most mornings Agent Annabeth Chase watched him from her car before driving to her workplace, a hidden OES training facility on Long Island, which is exactly what she did today.

When Percy, as Annabeth knew to call him, went back indoors, she herself sat up and started to drive to work.

One Year Ago

Agent-in-training Annabeth Chase’s pager squawked. “Annabeth, can you come to the Big House with your partner, please?” The familiar, but distorted voice of Chiron, the director in charge of training new agents, said through the pager.

She grabbed the pager and held down a button. “We’ll be right there, Mr. Chiron. I’ll go get Percy now.”

Silence from the pager and Annabeth stood up to leave her small office where she’s been looking through reports, one of the tasks assigned to agents-in-training when they weren’t on missions.

Percy’s office was close to her own and Annabeth soon stood in front of it. Knocking as a matter of form, she let herself in. Percy was on his computer as well doing research for a client. He wasn’t very good at it yet, but Chiron had insisted he get better because it was something he would need to do as a full agent. As it was, Percy was very good in the field, so Annabeth doubted his lack-luster research ability was going to slow him down.

He turned in his swivel chair to look at her. “Hey Annabeth, what’s up? Any word from the Big House?”

She nodded. “That’s what I’m here about, Seaweed Brain. Chiron wants to see us.”

Percy jumped up from his seat. “We better get going then. Could be important.”

Within moments Annabeth found herself in the Big House with Percy, being briefed by Chiron on what was happening.

An old enemy of the OES, a crime ring called Titan, was out to assassinate their leaders, colloquially called the Olympians, and most of the full agents were already on missions to find the head of the ring, who went by Kronos. However, this left the agents-in-training as the only people who were guarding OES’s main facilities and the homes of the Olympians.

Which was why Chiron has called on Annabeth and Percy. The Olympians had demanded extra security on their houses and Chiron had decided this was a good opportunity to work on Percy and Annabeth’s leadership skills as well as their planning. They were in charge of organizing the other agents to defend the houses.

Annabeth has a great mind for strategically planning and she knew Percy would be great at getting people to work together. She had no doubts they would perform admirably and so in no time at all they had devised a plan.

The next day they enacted the plan and went to their own posts in the Olympians’ council room. And that day Percy found and apprehended Kronos. And that day Percy was offered a promotion, a special job under one of the Olympians which came with the full title of Agent. That day Percy said yes. That day Percy left his partnership with Annabeth for this job and while Annabeth knew it was a great step for his career, it was still painful.

Even though Percy had tried to keep his friendship with Annabeth, they eventually drifted apart. After the third missed lunch Annabeth had told him it was okay for him to stop trying to keep in touch. He was busy now, she understood. He’d protested, but despite that he stopped asking for them to meet up and Annabeth was grateful. No more missed lunches, no more pretending he had the time to see her.

A few months later Percy had retired from being an agent after stopping a crime gang from smuggling explosives into America. He had potentially saved millions of lives and he’d gotten so much publicity for it that he seemed like more of a super hero than a secret agent.

He had had more than enough savings to buy a nice apartment and Annabeth was certain the landlord would have given him a discount anyways.

So now the only time she saw him was early morning when the rest of the world could too, when he did stretches on his balcony.

The Present

Annabeth had a nicer office now. No partner, but a nicer office and more pay. More difficult jobs as well. “Quests” as they were called by the agents.

And it turned out there was a new one lined up for her when she got to work. A quest that required less combat ability and more manners.

 “You’ll be infiltrating a gala.” Chiron informed her wryly. “I know we don’t usually send you on this type of mission and it’s a bit of a cliché, but there’s a good chance your puzzle solving abilities will be needed.”

 A few hours later, Annabeth was dressed in a heather-grey dress and sipping champagne at the gala.

This was supposed to be a classic job, guard the guests from the unknown thief that the hosts of the gala somehow knew were attending. Had the thief RSVP-ed? Annabeth smirked idly. 

More often than not, these missions were insurance scams, which is where Annabeth’s puzzle solving abilities came in. They’d stopped sending combat specialized agents on these missions a while ago, knowing that a moderately powerful, but clever agent would have a much better chance at figuring out the scam and preventing the OES from accidentally taking part in illegal activities.

Annabeth had confidence she’d complete this job with ease as long as she stayed alert, but she had scoped out all the emergency exits, just in case. Now all that she had left to do was kill some time until the “thief” appeared. Easier said than done, as all of the guests were personal acquaintances of the hosts, most of whom were here to meet business contacts. This was one of those charity galas, after all, that upper-class business people and socialites host to make themselves look better. It would have been a surprise if she had known anyone here.

Someone nearby cleared their throat. “Agent Chase.”

Annabeth spun on the spot to face the speaker. She almost spilled her drink and the person who had spoke, a young man, raised his eyebrows at her haste. 

Percy Jackson smiled at her sheepishly, wearing dress pants with a clean white button-up shirt and a blue tie with an ocean wave pattern that he’d clearly kept loosening. “I haven’t seen you in ages. What are you doing here?”

"What are  _you_  doing here?” Annabeth countered immediately. Her shock was fading, but her suspicion was not and she was glaring at him out of mixed emotions. 

Percy winced at her accusatory gaze before speaking. “I was invited here by the hosts. They wanted me here for some reason and hey, free food. Why not?”

Annabeth groaned and drank the rest of her champagne. ‘They wanted me here for some reason’ never meant good things. So now she was duty-bound to keep an eye on Percy and it’d been a long time since he was an agent. Annabeth doubted his ability was intact, which meant she had to take care of a civilian who she hadn’t spoken with properly in several months, but she still knew very well. And regularly stalked.The thought of him realizing this was enough to make Annabeth glance around the room for a waiter carrying more champagne.

"Percy." Annabeth winced at the familiar sound of her voice saying his name. "Percy, I’m here on a mission to stop a thief which means this is probably an insurance scam. And if the hosts invited you despite not knowing you personally then you’re somehow part of the plan."

Percy swallowed. “Yeah? Then what is their plan? And what are you going to do?”

Annabeth didn’t know yet. There wasn’t enough information and she couldn’t exactly question the hosts. She was going to have to think on her feet when the thief showed up. Fortunately, she was used it.

 Percy figured out as much. “You don’t know.” He guessed. “That’s okay. You could have just told me.”

 Annabeth tried to smile. “We’ll-  _I’ll_  figure it out when I have to. For now we just need to hang around. Don’t go acting suspicious or people will start asking questions.”

 “I wouldn’t dream of it.” Percy replied, smirking.

 He looked over the crowd, his eyes scanning face after face. “So do you have an idea what the thief is here to steal?”

 Annabeth considered the options. “Logically, anyone attempting to rob this event would be after the charity funds. All the money people paid for entrance or else  _generously_  donated to the cause would have been given to the hosts. And the hosts would have kept the money somewhere safe, but it’d have to be close by. Aren’t they planning on presenting all the funds raised to someone from the charity here?”

 Percy had grabbed a finger sandwich from a passing waiter and stuffed the whole thing in his mouth as he listened. Annabeth rolled her eyes. It was clear to see his eating habits hadn’t changed.

 Once he’d finished it he stared at Annabeth in vague confusion. “You know all this about the gala, but no one’s names? Not even the charity the hosts are supposedly donating to?”

 She shifted defensively. “Chiron barely had time to brief me before I had to go. Most of my information is from deduction.”

 “Right.” Percy said. He exhaled loudly. “So besides somewhere safe, where would the funds be?”

 “A safe in the security office.” Annabeth replied shortly. She didn’t feel like talking to Percy any more than necessary.

 “Then what are we doing in here?” Percy pointed out. “Why aren’t we guarding the safe?”

 Annabeth sighed. “It’s not that simple. I don’t have proof that the thief is after the money or that it’s even there. But that’s not the big problem. The big problem is that if this  _is_  an insurance scam then the hosts want the money stolen and they wouldn’t let us guard it.”

 “I don’t get it.”

 “Never mind.” Annabeth said tiredly. “Let’s go check out the security office.”

 Percy grinned.

A moment later found Annabeth standing in front of an unmarked door by the kitchens, with Percy tapping his foot anxiously near by.

A moment more and she and Percy were in the room behind the door, shoving through dusty boxes to reach the far wall. Once they made it, Annabeth sat Percy down in a corner out of sight and took the opposite corner to wait.

Annabeth’s attention was torn between the closed door and Percy. With nothing else to do as she waited, but no courage to talk to Percy, it was the only thing she  _could_  do.

Eventually, Percy couldn’t stand the silence anymore. “So why do you think I was invited to this thing?”

Annabeth glanced over at him and met his gaze briefly. “I’m not sure yet.” She started. “But I’d imagine we’ll know once we- I catch the thief.” Already it was so easy to slip into using “we”, as if they were a team again.

"If they ever show up." Percy said offhand. 

Annabeth kept her focus on the door. “They will.” She had faith in her own intelligence and intuition. Maybe too much faith, she remembered vaguely. There had been times when her pride in her abilities had caused trouble for herself and others.

Percy didn’t argue though. He believed her. If Annabeth thought the thief would show here then they would.

A few moments later, Annabeth heard someone talking outside the door. Their mystery thief. Judging by their voice, they were an older guy who didn’t feel the need to keep their voice down. That seemed to reinforce the idea they were part of a scam.

Percy was frozen still beside her. If the thief was armed Annabeth knew she had to take him into account. Slowly, Annabeth moved her hand towards her belt.

 The door swung open and the ‘thief’ strode in, as casually as if he came here every day. Even framed against the light from the ballroom, Annabeth recognized the man in an instant.

 She stood up abruptly, almost letting her hand drop from her belt and weapon before thinking better on it. “Hermes?”

 The man beamed. “The one and only.” He walked into the room further and glanced around. “Shouldn’t Percy be in here? Hello? Perseus Jackson?”

 Annabeth stared at him thoughtfully, her thoughts whirling in her brain at a mile a minute. She was thinking hard, adapting to this new information. “What are you doing here? And what do you want with Percy?” Her hand hadn’t moved from her weapon, still. Hermes was one of the Olympians, though not one of the most well-known, and although she was loathe to shoot one of her bosses, she wasn’t going to lower her guard until he explained his presence.

 Hermes didn’t seem to mind. Body guards and billions of dollars of health and life insurance might take the edge off your fear of getting shot. “For once, I don’t want anything with him. No message to deliver.” He stopped looking around the room and turned to smile at Annabeth. “I just want to know if he’s in here.”

 Annabeth continued to glare at him suspiciously. “Why? I was told that a thief was going to attend this event and that I was supposed to stop them.” Her voice was cold and calculating. “How do I know you aren’t them? How do I have proof of anything? Your presence here is raising all sorts of possibilities.” Possibilities like him being involved in this scam or her having misinterpreted this situation entirely. Just what was going on here?

 Hermes continued to smile amiably. “I know you’re the type of person who needs answers, Agent Chase, so how’s about you let me take you to someone who can give them?”

 “Is there a catch?” Annabeth asked, still thinking furiously.

 “You need to bring Mr. Jackson along.” Hermes informed her. “After all that’s the whole point of this scheme.” He looked vaguely bored, which made Annabeth suspect he was only doing this on behalf of someone else. And the only people who could have an Olympian to do something were other Olympians. So who was it? Annabeth wondered.

Hermes led them out of the room. To their left was the hall to kitchens and backstage and they followed as Hermes showed them to a dressing room and stopped. “She’s inside.” He said briefly. “She’ll explain what’s going on.”

 Annabeth exchanged a guarded look with Percy before pushing open the door. 

They stepped inside and looked around. The room only had one occupant, an extremely beautiful woman, sitting on a red cushioned chair in front of a vanity.

This time it was Percy who recognized the Olympian first. “Aphrodite. Why’d you call us here?”

She smiled at them and took in the sight of Percy and Annabeth standing beside each other after so long. “For this, of course!” Her voice was as beautiful as her appearance, high and clear and lilting with some undeterminable accent. “To reunite you two after your long separation!”

Annabeth’s stormy grey eyes widened. “You arranged a whole gala, complete with the potential for an insurance scam, just for me and Percy to meet again?” She stared at Aphrodite, pointedly trying to ignore Percy’s reaction beside her.

Aprodite chuckled lightly and elegantly spun her chair back to face the vanity table. “It was hardly difficult. A gala is easy to hold and, as one of the Olympians, I have a certain amount of control over missions.”

Annabeth was still aghast. “Why? Why would you do that?” She heard Percy cross his arms next to her and guessed that he was staring at Aphrodite, too.

“Why wouldn’t I?” She replied breezily. She dapped at her lipstick before continuing. “At little to no cost to me, I could help you two realize your feelings! If you have as much power and influence as myself, why not do some good?” She smiled at them in the mirror. “And of course weddings are always fun…”

Annabeth struggled to maintain her composure as Percy let out a strangled sound of embarrassment and confusion. “What are you talking about?”

Percy tried to pull himself together. “Yeah.” He set his jaw and cleared his throat. “What do you mean? I mean, me and Annabeth- we aren’t- we haven’t even seen each other in months!”

Annabeth shifted uncomfortably beside him. “Right, Annabeth?” He questioned.

Aphrodite squealed in excitement. “Go on now, darling. Tell him.” She rested a hand over her heart delicately. “Oh, I do so love a good love story.”

Annabeth and Percy ignored her last remark.

“Well…” Annabeth began. She tried to smile at him reassuringly. “You know how you go onto your balcony every morning to exercise?” Percy nodded slowly, an expression of confusion and concern still on his face. “Sometimes, I happen to… be nearby and… I watch you exercise on the balcony…” Annabeth ducked her head for a moment in shame. She had known her habit of watching him from her car was a stupid idea, but she had missed him, dammit, and it was his own fault for leaving her for that promotion. At least that’s what she had told herself.

But now that she stood face to face with Percy for the first time in months, she knew it was partly her own fault for not talking to him sooner or fighting for the relationship. Percy had wanted to stay her friend, perhaps even become more, but she’d given it all up over a few missed lunch dates. They should have tried more. Was their relationship really so easy to break? Had it really been worth so little to them?

No, Annabeth decided. It had been worth much more than they’d given it credit for. And she wanted it restored, if Percy could forgive her for the invasion of privacy. They could work this out, right?

Percy stepped back, his eyes widening in surprise. “Wha?! Huhhh, um, wow.” He shook his head, like he was trying to clear it, his shaggy hair flopping every which way. “That’s a bit… uh, creepy, but…” He tried to catch her eye and she opened her mouth to apologize formally. “It’s okay. I know you’re sorry.”

Annabeth closed her mouth and tried to smile at him gratefully, but only the corners of her mouth tugged upwards. “I am sorry, though.” She added after a moment had passed.

Percy looked thoughtful. “It’s okay.” He insisted again. He hesitated a second before adding with one of his trademark trouble-maker grins. “Did you really miss me that much?”

Annabeth had recovered enough to roll eyes and push him away from her gently.

Percy put up his hands to defend from attack. “Hey!”

She smirked at him before sighing and opening her mouth to speak. “But in all honestly, Seaweed Brain, yes. I did miss you that much. And I’m sorry I didn’t try more to keep our friendship.”

Percy waved her apology away. “I should have tried more, too. I should have made more of an effort to meet you on time. I could have gotten away with leaving meetings earlier…” He met her eyes apologetically. “There was a lot of things I could have done, or should have done. I’m sorry, too.”

Annabeth grabbed Percy’s hand and pulled him closer, shaking her head in amusement and admiration for her long-time friend. “It’s fine. We’re both okay now. At least, I hope we are.” She rested her arms on his shoulders, smiling coyly. “Are we?”

Percy gazed in awe at seeing Annabeth’s face so close. “I think we are.” He inhaled deeply, sharply. “I really missed you, too.” He confessed. “I missed you a lot.”

Annabeth’s smile widened as Percy gently placed his hands on her hips. “Hopefully you can miss me a lot less in the future. No more separating, yeah?”

“Yeah…” Percy breathed as Annabeth stepped closer. She was standing on tip-toes now, her face level with his and her biceps resting on his shoulders. Their noses almost touched.

Annabeth kissed him. Percy’s arms wrapped further around her and her grip on him tightened. The kiss was gentle in itself, but they held each other as if they never wanted to be apart again. They clung to each other with all the desperation and longing of their time apart even after Annabeth pulled back.

Annabeth beamed at Percy breathlessly and he stared at her in admiration. Then he cleared his throat and whispered. “Would now be an okay time to ask you if you would like to go on a date with me?”

She laughed, still smiling at him. But before she would replied that yes, yes it was a good time and yes, she would like too, a triumphant noise took her back to the present.

“Excellent!” Aphrodite exclaimed. “Why, this has gone even better than I imagined!” Her expression was one of smug pleasure; she was clearly very proud of herself.

Percy jumped and untangled himself from Annabeth. Annabeth guessed he’d totally forgotten Aphrodite was in the room and she couldn’t help but be a little bit pleased that he’d been so focused on her that he’d forgotten an Olympian, and an extremely beautiful one at that, was in their vicinity.

“I would be very happy to go on a date with you.” Annabeth told Percy quickly. While she was thankful for what Aphrodite had done, she didn’t want to be near her any longer than necessary. Even if she was her boss, Annabeth didn’t trust her.

Percy’s trouble-maker smile returned in full-force. “Awesome, shall we go now?”

Annabeth rolled her eyes again, but she was grateful for the reason to leave. “Lead the way, Seaweed Brain.” She said teasingly before stealing one last quick kiss.

They left the gala with their arms around each other.


End file.
